<div>The annual report from the Minnesota state auditor’s report for 2024 comes up roses for Clay County.The audit director Karen Stacken delivered the forensic findings on Tuesday morning to the Clay County Board of Commissioners in Moorhead.Stacken first commended the county on its superior showing.“The county did receive an unmodified opinion on the financial statements,” Stacken said. “And that’s the best opinion you can receive. It’s the one you want to have.”But Stacken said during audit testing, there were three findings identified for further review.The first item had to do with internal control over financial reporting. The review found that multiple departments had a sole point person in charge of collecting, recording and overseeing financials.While no red flags or unusual numbers popped up within the audit, Stacken added a best-practices suggestion to this process.“Just having all those duties concentrated in one person could affect the ability of the county employees to be able to identify any misstatements that could occur in a timely period,” Stacken said.Stacken said the board and county management should be aware of this lack of segregation of accounting practices, and if possible, try to implement procedures to ensure that staff are implementing internal controls.Next, a single audit was completed with federal program monies.The three programs under review were the Covid-19 coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds, child support services, and the Medicaid cluster.No issues arose within the Covid-19 funds or child support services files.Two findings were identified within this focus, both related specifically to the eligibility portion within the Medicaid cluster.There are two different programs used to determine eligibility – Members Empowered to Succeed (METS) and MAXIS, a computer system utilized like a benefits algorithm.The first finding was determined after sampling 40 case files, comparing the information in them to that within the METS system. Stacken said one case lacked U.S. citizenship documentation and another case missing the participant’s income.On the MAXIS side, 40 additional cases were opened. There, Stacken said one case was not opened for 107 days, when normally the process is completed in about 45 days. There were also six cases in which their citizenship verification methods didn’t match the documentation in the file. Another case file had incorrect income documentation, and three cases of incorrect assets documentation.“The effect this can have is that the lack of the updated information in MAXIS or the lack of verification of eligibility requirements could allow program participants to receive benefits when they are not eligible,” Stacken said.Stacken recommends that the county implement additional procedures to ensure that case documentation undergoes greater scrutiny and is properly updated in the recording system. And that program personnel follow up on issues in a timely manner along with further training.Commissioner Jenny Mongeau, Dist. 3, inquired after Stacken’s report about the possibility that old or outdated client information could have been uploaded into databases.Stacken responded that there was a combination of data input errors, and in others some of the documentation wasn’t in the file to support what was showing in the METS or MAXIS systems.</div>

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The annual report from the Minnesota state auditor’s report for 2024 comes up roses for Clay County. The audit director Karen Stacken delivered the forensic findings on Tuesday morning to the Clay County Board of Commissioners in Moorhead. Stacken first commended the county on its superior showing. “The county...

State audit of Clay County uncovers minimal issues

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The annual report from the Minnesota state auditor’s report for 2024 comes up roses for Clay County. The audit director Karen Stacken delivered the forensi

State audit of Clay County uncovers minimal issues

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